School of Management (SoM)

Permanent URI for this community

https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/25

Browse

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10

Open Access
Are markets efficient? The extreme case of corporate bankruptcy - a systematic review
(2005-08) Coelho, Luis; Taffler, Richard J.
Fama (1970) presents the classical definition of an efficient market: in such a market, prices always reflect all available information. Recently, behavioural finance has emerged as an alternative theoretical framework to the traditional paradigm. This new approach is based on the idea that not all investors are rational and that rational investors face limits to arbitrage. The market's reaction to corporate bankruptcy announcements is a privileged context within which to explore the conflicting predictions of these two competing theoretical frameworks. In fact, existing research does not provide clear guidance on this issue. Some studies suggest that the market is efficient in the event of corporate failure (e.g. Clark and Weinstein, 1983; Morse and Shaw, 1988; Elayan and Maris, 1991) while others conclude that the market is highly inefficient when dealing with extreme bad news (e.g. Katz et al, 1985; Eberhart et al, 1999; Indro et al, 1999). This study resorts to the systematic literature review methodology to organize a survey on the existing literature that analyses the market's reaction to corporate bankruptcy announcements. The purpose of the review is to identify suitable research gaps that can be explored at a PhD level. A brief overview of the thematic under analysis is presented in the first part of the study. Subsequently, a detailed analysis of the systematic literature review methodology is provided, including both the search strategy employed and the different selection criteria used. The last part presents the results. These suggest that the area under analysis has received considerable attention from the finance academic community but some interesting research questions still remain unsettled, providing the context for future research in the field.
Open Access
Collaboration in demand chain: a systematic review from a communication perspective
(2004-09) Qiao, Hong; Wilding, Richard D.
Collaboration is imperative in the demand chain in order to be able to share the seamless transparent information which is one of the key principals of demand chain organisations (Lee and Whang, 2001). It has been a key enabler widely accepted in demand chain literature, but most of the authors do not scientifically justify it. Since demand chain management is an emerging field of interest for academics, how collaboration works in this particular environment understandably remains under-researched. Most research on collaboration between buyer and supplier is not explicitly conducted in the competitive environment. This thesis, using the methodology of systematic review, investigates the literature of dem and chain management and collaboration from a communication perspective. The review of studies on collaboration between buyer and supplier is expected to provide insight for the study on collaboration in demand chain environment. There are 21 works included for the demand chain literature review and 25 for collaboration from a communication perspective. This systematic review of literature on demand chain management and collaboration from a communication perspective identifies seven enablers for demand chain system, among which collaboration and technology-enabled communication are two key enablers together with agility etc. This review also identifies two main themes in collaboration with communication perspective literature: communication in collaboration with buyer-supplier relationships as a communication media, and communication in collaboration with buy-supplier relationships as a social process. A holistic view of communication behaviour within buyer-supplier relationships is recommended and future work in this field is needed.
Open Access
Guanxi as a supply relational risk source in China: a systematic review of western forms of relational governance and Guanxi
(2006-08) Jia, Fu; Christopher, Martin; Rutherford, Christine
It is well known that China has become the world’s manufacturing centre in the past two decades. More and more Western firms outsource their products, semi-finished products, materials and services to China. In this process, some are successful while others fail. It is true that there are various reasons for failure but one of the most important ones is the cultural differences between the West and China. The question is: what is the rationale behind the success or failure of dealing with the cultural differences? Guanxi is one of the major dynamics in the Chinese society where business behaviour revolves around it. The objective of this paper is to review Western forms of supply relational risk management and compare them with Guanxi. First of all, a synthesized concept of supply relational risk is coined. Secondly, synthesized models of both Western forms of supply relational risk management and Guanxi are proposed. Ten sources of risk are identified based on the comparison; these are presented as assumptions to be tested through field research. The main differences between the Western and Chinese forms of relationship management are: 1) Affection is an element of Guanxi which is missed by the Western business relationship management; 2) Chinese are responsible for family, while Westerners are responsible for society. 3) There are no such concepts as face and renqing in the West, which originated from hierarchically ancient China and are the key elements of Guanxi. Risk implications derived from these differences are presented. Finally, the outcome of the review is the identification of two PhD research questions and limitations and learning points of this review.
Open Access
How do analysts deal with bad news? Going-concern opinions and analyst behaviour - a systematic review
(2005-08-31) Peixinho, Ruben Miguel Torcato; Taffler, Richard J.
This study systematically reviews the literature that can constitute the foundations for the connection of two areas that have hitherto been developed separately: analyst behaviour and going-concern opinions. Financial literature claims that analyst judgement is biased given their tendency to systematically underreact in the presence of bad news and their tendency to systematically overreact in the presence of good news. Considering that goingconcern modifications constitute an unambiguous and acute case of bad news, this event presents a unique opportunity to explore analysts' anticipation of and reaction to the presence of bad news. This analysis can provide further evidence on analysts' optimism and their role in the apparent delayed impact of bad news to investors. A systematic review of the literature is developed in order to guarantee methodological rigour in the review process. The systematic search for studies in the refined scope finds 40 papers that are analysed and synthesised. These papers are discussed in order to justify the potential gap in the literature and the research opportunities available for a doctoral study. The results suggest that the connection between these areas can sustain a doctoral study and contribute for the development of the accounting and finance framework.
Open Access
Measuring organisational routines: a systematic review
(2006-08) Pavlov, Andrey; Bourne, Mike
This dissertation employs the systematic review method to review the literature informing the question of using performance measurement to drive strategy execution. The narrative review outlines the location of this issue within the relevant domains of literature and is used to formulate the questions for the systematic review. The latter are formulated to reflect two major approaches to using measurement for strategic management purposes - measuring to challenge strategic assumptions and inform subsequent intervention and measuring to drive localised strategic learning. Learning is conceptualised as continuous change in organisational routines, where the latter provide a “window” to the firm’s strategy by the virtue of being the constituent parts of dynamic capabilities. The systematic review follows the structure suggested by Cranfield School of Management and outlines the sequence of actions taken during the review process. It provides a record of the decisions taken and outside input received during the process. The evidence found through the systematic review leads to several conclusions. First, the inadequate level of research into the measures of routines precludes measurement from being used for evaluating routines to inform subsequent intervention. Measures of routines need to be systematised, better understood and better operationalised before this application of measurement becomes possible as an independent strategic management approach. A first step in this direction is offered by proposing a classification of measures of organisational routines. Understanding changes in routines as learning that can be influenced by performance measurement offers a greater potential. It is suggested that while learning is stimulated by performance feedback and takes place through routines, it can be influenced strategically through the use the feedforward function of measurement. The results of the findings from the systematic review are integrated into a coherent framework, on the basis of which several avenues for further research are suggested.
Open Access
Modelling and managing the impact of employer branding: a social identity approach
(2006-08) Maxwell, Rachael; Knox, Simon
Employers throughout the developed world are facing a fierce ‘war for talent’ that may soon eclipse the traditional competition for customers.1 Employer branding has been widely recognized as a valuable strategic weapon in this ‘war for talent,’2 but we still do not fully understand what it is or how it works.3 This review seeks to address both questions by developing a model of the ‘employer branding value chain’. The model proposed in this paper is based on a systematic review of the literature in two subject areas, employer branding and organizational identification. Employer branding is a relatively new field of study that applies the theory of consumer branding to the practice of HR management.4 The principles are well-established, as are the objectives, but little research has yet been conducted to establish the causal relationships between them. Organizational identification, on the other hand, is a relatively well-researched field that describes the psychological attachment of an individual to an organization. The most popular theory of organizational identification is based on Ashforth and Mael’s (1989) ‘social identity approach,’ and this is the theory covered in the review. The proposed model also incorporates the notion of person-organization fit as described by Herriot (2002, 2004) However his ‘social process’ approach to recruitment is based on the same three theories as those used by Ashforth and Mael (1989), and is therefore treated as an extension of the literature on organizational identification. By integrating insights from both areas, this review seeks to both explain and predict employee behaviour. The resulting model brings the extant theory and research to bear on a critical business issue, providing a practical guide for managers. I conclude the review with a discussion of limitations and areas for further study.
Open Access
An organisation theory perspective of performance measurement systems in public sector organisations
(2004-08-27) Micheli, Pietro; Kennerley, Mike
This dissertation presents a systematic review of the literature (SLR) about the use of two organization theories (OT) - new institutional and resource dependence - in the study of performance measurement (PM) in public sector organizations. The SLR confirmed the findings of a scoping study, namely that two categories of papers exist in this field - theoretical and applied. The majority of papers are applied: they address primarily the practical aspects of PM, but often lack a strong theoretical grounding. Theoretical contributions, on the other hand, rarely deal with practical aspects and the authors seem unconcerned about the relevance of their studies to practitioners. Nevertheless, it is believed that, by creating new knowledge that is firmly grounded in theory and at the same time relevant to practice, it is possible to bridge the gap between the two bodies of literature and further the knowledge of this field. Furthermore, this dissertation shows that the subject of PM could strongly benefit from the use of the two suggested theories, which, despite their dissimilarities, could be conjointly used. The systematic character of the review means that transparency and traceability to the researcher’s decisions and criteria is maintained. The SLR proved to be very relevant in relation to the researcher’s wider subject of interest - the examination of the interactions between institutions and public sector organizations belonging to the same organisational field in the development of PM systems. In this sense, very significant themes emerged from the material included in the SLR. These include the types of strategic responses to institutional pressures and the importance of various concepts drawn from the two bodies of literature, e.g. efficiency, effectiveness, legitimacy, isomorphism, loose coupling, institutionalization and power. Finally, interesting reflections were identified regarding research methods, methodologies and levels of analysis.
Open Access
A systematic review of literature relating to knowledge creation processes in radical new product development in the manufacturing industry
(2006-08) Knight, Diane; Bourne, Mike
This systematic review maps out the current literature of knowledge creation processes which may be applied to the specific context of radical new product innovation in the manufacturing industry. It follows a process which is transparent and objective by stating and following explicit methods for the search, extraction and synthesis of the data contained within the academic literature base. The perspective from which the knowledge processes have been discussed in the academic literature were used to categories the papers. The associated findings of knowledge process descriptions and success factors within each of the categories were extracted. The complementary concepts and theories extracted from the papers were synthesized into an overall picture of knowledge creation processes. This generalized process of knowledge creation may be applicable to radical NPD in manufacturing industry. A scoring system was used to grade the relevancy of the articles against three dimensions pertinent to the context of this review: radical innovation (as apposed to incremental) and manufacturing NPD as opposed to other industry processes and knowledge process relevancy. It was clear that no paper scored highly on all three dimensions leading to the conclusion that there is no clear understanding exists of the knowledge creation process which happens in the specific context of radical NPD in the manufacturing industry. What the literature tells us is that a generalised process of knowledge creation is described in rich detail within the literature and despite the disparate origins the process mechanisms, routes and success factors are surprisingly complementary. What is not known to any degree of certainty is whether the processes shown within the literature are generalisable or, more specifically, can be applied to the specific context of radical NPD in the manufacturing industry.
Open Access
Understanding service management: a systematic literature review of services characteristics and classifications
(2003-08-29) Edelman, Adrian; Towriss, John
This dissertation presents a systematic review of the literature about the distinctive characteristics of services, often studied in terms of the similarities and differences when compared to goods, and about the classifications that scholars have developed to improve the understanding and management of services. Both topics have characterized the service management literature since its emergence. Academics have extensively used four attributes to argue that services are uniquely different from goods, as well as for arguing that the differences are not meaningful: inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity, intangibility, and perishability. Arguments according to different functional and theoretical perspectives and different levels of analysis are reviewed. Ultimately, it is argued that a goods/services dichotomy is irrelevant, and that research should focus on the distinctive features of a generic product/service. Management scholars have always used classifications to foster the understanding organizations at both academic and managerial levels. Most of the typologies regarding the management of services, either from a marketing or an operations management perspective, are descriptive, and only a few attempt to prescribe design and management. Classifications make use of theoretical rationales with different degrees of robustness, and utilize a large variety of dimensions to type organizations. The development of both topics has been eminently conceptual; empirical research supporting the major tenets is scarce. The systematic character of the review means that an explicit effort is made to provide transparency and traceability to the researcher's decisions and criteria. A review methodology relatively new to management research is used, and it proves to be highly valuable. The fit between the research project characteristics and the operationalization of the systematic review principles is pointed out as a contribution to the development of this methodology for management research.
Open Access
When ‘service with a smile’ is not enough: a systematic review of emotional labour in the service encounter
(2005-08) Nunan, Daniel; Knox, Simon
Recently, there has been increasing research into how emotion is displayed in an organisational context, as the creation of emotional links with consumers becomes more critical in developing strong brands. Emotion is a seductive concept, ubiquitous and powerful, yet often poorly understood. Adopting a systematic review method I use the framework of emotional labour as a basis for examining the role of emotion in service encounters, and understanding how emotional labour contributes to consumer evaluations of service quality. Traditional views of emotional labour have focussed on low paid, routine, interactive service work, such as in the retail, travel, and leisure industries. As a result, it is argued, emotional labour is undervalued by employers. Through a review of empirical and conceptual literature on emotional labour evidence suggests that emotional labour is significant in a wide range of professional and non-professional service roles, and has both negative and positive consequences. However, in many brief service encounters in routine service interactions ‘service with a smile’ was not seen to be a significant contributor to consumer satisfaction. Conversely, in many professional roles effective use of emotional labour was related to positive evaluations of technical service quality. Several research gaps within emotional labour are identified, including research into crosscultural and multi-channel environments. A significant theme in the empirical evidence was of employee emotional autonomy being an important factor in the correct performance of emotional labour. I provide a conceptual model of emotional labour that moves the focus away from the employee to a more consumer-focussed dyad, reflective of a service encounter. I propose that effective emotional linkages are formed through interactions based on emotional labour. This implies that if organisations genuinely wish to form strong emotional bonds with consumers, they must be willing to give greater emotional autonomy to service employees.

Browse

Browsing School of Management (SoM) by Course name "MRes"

Results Per Page

Sort Options